By Sarah Brill, Science and Technology Editor
On September 1, 2020 at 7 p.m. EST, the student councils of both the Wilf and Beren Campuses hosted a trivia night on Zoom. To set the mood, student council members introduced themselves and played the song “Beautiful Soul” by Jesse McCartney.
The first round of trivia night involved the members of the Zoom call playing a Kahoot game where everyone was for themselves. Technical difficulties arose within the first minute of the game and the student council members were forced to reset and begin again. After a fierce 17 rounds of Kahoot trivia on random YU knowledge, the podium was announced and the Kahoot ended.
Working in teams, Zoom members participated in the second trivia game, which was composed of three rounds. Prior to trivia night, students had the opportunity to choose team members via a Google Form sent out Thursday, August 26. During the Kahoot, one of the student council members created break-out rooms with the pre-selected groups to accommodate everyone.
The topics for the team trivia rounds were: music and TV, sports and pop culture, and topics from the 2000’s. With the tension building on the Zoom call, and the anxious faces of college students looking to win the prize of lunch with a YU dean, the breakout rooms were listed, and the games began.
The trivia worked as such: a Google Form link was sent to the main Zoom group prior to members joining breakout rooms. This form contained the music, pictures, or questions the groups were supposed to answer. After each round, the groups were sent back to the main Zoom call and given a new link. The response to this format was positive with one student, Shani Lewis (SCW ‘21), commenting to the YU Observer that the trivia was “interactive and fun.”
All in all, this attempt at creating an activity that would have normally been offered in-person was a massive success. The student council outdid themselves and their hard work putting this event together paid off. The student body could benefit from more nights like these. It was elegantly crafted, with a few hiccups at the beginning, but overall an amazing night.